Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula is a geographical peninsula located in southwestern Europe, south of the Pyrenees mountains. The Iberian Peninsula consists of the countries of Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and the United Kingdom's colony of Gibraltar in the south, and the peninsula is bordered by the Bay of Biscay to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east, being separated from North Africa by the Strait of Gibraltar. The peninsula has a rich history, including the epic Reconquista of 719-1492, which saw the Christian kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Navarre, Aragon, and Portugal reconquer the peninsula from the Moors and form the modern-day kingdoms of Spain and Portugal. Today, Moorish culture can still be seen in architecture and cuisine, and the peninsula's culture has also been influenced by the pre-Roman Celts, the Roman Empire, and the Visigoths, with the Basque language being of Celtic origin and the Spanish and Portuguese languages being of Latin origin. The peninsula has a population of around 53,000,000 people.